1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a packing case and a packing method, for packing an image forming apparatus which forms an image according to image data read by a reading section having a scanner unit, and to an image forming apparatus packed by such packing case.
2. Description of Related Art
As conventional image forming apparatuses, there are mainly two types of known image forming apparatuses. One type is a large image forming apparatus which is relatively high in height and installed mainly on a floor, and the other type is a small image forming apparatus which is relatively short in height and placed on a stand such as a cabinet.
FIG. 1 is a schematic view showing an example of the structure of a conventional large image forming apparatus. A main component of a conventional image forming apparatus of this type is an image forming apparatus main body 103 including a reading section 100 having a scanner portion for reading a document image; an image forming unit 101 for forming an image according to image data read by the reading section 100; and a sheet transport section 102 for transporting a sheet to the image forming unit 101 and also transporting the sheet from the image forming unit 101 to a sheet ejection unit. Moreover, this image forming apparatus main body 103 has a toner cartridge 104 (see FIG. 2) which contains toner to be supplied to the image forming unit 101 and can be inserted into and removed from the image forming apparatus main body 103.
A scanner portion 105 is composed of a document platen 106 made of a transparent glass, an automatic double-sided document feeder (ADF) 107 for automatically feeding and transporting a document onto the document platen 106, a document image reading section, namely, a scanner unit 108 for reading an image of a document placed on the document platen 106 by scanning.
The document image read by the scanner portion 105 is sent as image data to a later-described image data input unit, and then predetermined image processing is performed on the image data.
The automatic double-sided document feeder 107 is a device for automatically feeding a plurality of document sheets set on a document tray, not shown, one sheet at a time onto the document platen 106 of the scanner unit 108. Further, in order to allow the scanner unit 108 to read one side or both sides of a document, according to a selection made by an operator, this automatic double-sided document feeder 107 comprises a transport path for a single-sided document, a transport path for a double-sided document, transport path switching means, a sensor group for understanding and managing the state of documents passing the respective transport paths, and a control unit. For this automatic double-sided document feeder 107, since many applications were filed and developed into commercial products conventionally, no further explanation will be given here.
The scanner unit 108 constituting the scanner portion 105 for reading an image of a document on the document platen 106 comprises: a first scanning unit 111 including a lamp reflector assembly 109 for exposing a document surface and a first reflective mirror 110 for reflecting reflected light from the document so as to guide a reflected light image from the document to a photoelectric conversion device (CCD); a second scanning unit 114 including second and third reflective mirrors 112 and 113 for guiding the reflected light image from the first reflective mirror 110 to the photoelectric conversion device (CCD); an optical lens 115 for focusing the reflected light image from the document through the above-described reflective mirrors onto the device (CCD) for converting it into electrical image signals; and the photoelectric conversion device 116 for converting the reflected light image from the document into electrical image signals.
The scanner portion 105 is designed to read a document image by moving the scanner unit 108 along the lower face of the document platen 106 while sequentially placing a document to be read on the document platen 106 by the related operations of the automatic double-sided document feeder 107 and scanner unit 108.
The first scanning unit 111 runs from left to right along the document platen 106 at a constant velocity V. The second scanning unit 114 is controlled to scan in the same parallel direction at a velocity of V/2 based on the velocity V of the first scanning unit 111.
Consequently, the image of the document placed on the document platen 106 is sequentially focused and read onto the photoelectric converting element 116 on a line by line basis.
The image data obtained by reading the document image with the scanner unit 108 is sent to the above-mentioned image processing unit, and temporarily stored in a memory of the image processing unit after performing various processing. Then, the image in the memory is read according to an output instruction, and transferred to the image forming unit 101 to form the image on a sheet.
The image forming unit 101 comprises a transport system for a sheet that is a recording material for forming an image, a laser writing unit 117, and a photosensitive drum 118 for forming an image.
The laser writing unit 117 comprises a semiconductor laser for emitting laser light, according to image data which is read by the scanner unit 108, stored temporarily in the memory and then read from the memory, or image data transferred from an external device; a polygon mirror for deflecting the laser light at an equal angular velocity; and a f-θ lens for compensating the laser light deflected at the equal angular velocity so that it is deflected at an equal angular velocity on the photosensitive drum 118 that constitutes the image forming unit 101.
The image forming unit 101 comprises the known photosensitive drum 118, and a charger, a developer, a transfer unit, a remover, a cleaning unit and a charge eliminator disposed around the photosensitive drum 118.
On the other hand, the transport system for a sheet comprises a transport unit 119 for transporting a sheet to a transfer position where the transfer unit of the image forming unit 101 for forming an image is located; a multi-stage sheet feed unit 120 for feeding a sheet to the transport unit 119, or a manual sheet feeder 121 for appropriately feeding a sheet of a required size; a fixing device 122 for fixing an image, particularly a toner image formed on the sheet after the transfer operation; and a refeed path 123 for refeeding the sheet so as to form an image again on the back side of the sheet after the fixing operation.
Moreover, disposed on the downstream side of the fixing device 122 is a post-processing device for receiving a sheet with an image recorded thereon and performing predetermined processing on the sheet.
In the laser writing unit 117 and the image forming unit 101, the image data read from the image memory is formed as an electrostatic latent image on the surface of the photosensitive drum 118 by scanning a laser beam by the laser writing unit 117. A toner image obtained by visualizing this electrostatic latent image with toner is electrostatically transferred and fixed onto a surface of a sheet transported from any sheet feed unit of the multi-stage sheet feed unit.
The sheet with the image thus formed thereon is transported from the fixing device 122 to a post-processing unit 125 via ejection rollers 124.
FIG. 2 is an explanatory view showing a packing method for packing the image forming apparatus shown in FIG. 1 by a packing case.
When shipping the conventional image forming apparatus thus constructed, the image forming apparatus main body 103 and the toner cartridge 104 are separated and packed by a packing case 126 so as to prevent the image forming apparatus from being damaged by shock, etc.
The packing case 126 for packing the image forming apparatus main body 103 comprises a lower packing member 128 having a first recessed portion 127 corresponding to the lower outer shape of the image forming apparatus main body 103; two upper packing members 129, each having a recessed portion corresponding to the outer shape of an upper corner section of the image forming apparatus main body 103; and a cap-shaped packing member 130 which is to be fitted around the image forming apparatus main body 103. Further, a second recessed portion 131 corresponding to the outer shape of the toner cartridge 104 is provided on the outside of the above-mentioned first recessed portion 127 of the lower packing member 128.
Thus, the toner cartridge 104 which is packed together with the image forming apparatus main body 103 in the packing case 126 is stored and packed in the outside portion of the first recessed portion 127 of the lower packing member 128 for packing the image forming apparatus main body 103, in other words, in the second recessed portion 131 formed outside the packing area for the image forming apparatus main body 103.
FIG. 3 is a schematic view showing an example of the structure of a conventional small image forming apparatus, and FIG. 4 is an explanatory view showing a packing method for packing the image forming apparatus shown in FIG. 3 by a packing case.
As shown in FIG. 3, a main component of a recent digital image forming apparatus is an image forming apparatus main body 137 including a reading section 132 having a scanner portion for reading a document image; an image forming section 135 having an image forming unit 133 for forming an image according to image data read by the reading section 132, and a sheet feed unit 134 for feeding a sheet to the image forming unit 133; and a sheet storage space 136, formed to be open to the outside between the reading section 132 and the image forming section 135, for storing a sheet transported from the image forming unit 133. In addition, this image forming apparatus main body 137 has a toner cartridge 138 containing toner to be supplied to the image forming unit 133 and capable of being inserted into and removed from the image forming apparatus main body 137.
In this type of image forming apparatus, by forming the sheet storage space between the reading section and the image forming section and using this sheet storage space as a sheet output portion, the installation space of the image forming apparatus main body is reduced.
When shipping the conventional image forming apparatus thus constructed, the image forming apparatus main body 137 and the toner cartridge 138 are separated and packed by a packing case 137 so as to prevent the image forming apparatus from being damaged by shock, etc.
The packing case 139 for packing the image forming apparatus main body 137 comprises a lower packing member 141 having a third recessed portion 140 corresponding to the lower outer shape of the image forming apparatus main body 137; two upper packing members 142, each having a recessed portion corresponding to the outer shape of an upper corner portion of the image forming apparatus main body 137; and a box-shaped packing member 143 which is to be fitted around the image forming apparatus main body 137. Further, a fourth recessed portion 144 corresponding to the outer shape of the toner cartridge 138 is formed outside the above-mentioned third recessed portion 140 of the lower packing member 141.
Thus, the toner cartridge 138 which is to be packed together with the image forming apparatus main body 137 in the packing case 139 is stored and packed in the outside portion of the third recessed portion 140 of the lower packing member 141 for packing the image forming apparatus main body 137, in other words, in the fourth recessed portion 144 formed outside the packing area for the image forming apparatus main body 137.
However, in the image forming apparatus constructed as shown in FIG. 3, since the reading section 132 is in a floating state in the upper portion due to the sheet storage space 136, this image forming apparatus tends to be relatively weak against shock applied from an upper side compared to the conventional large image forming apparatus shown in FIG. 1. Therefore, in a digital image forming apparatus thus constructed, a shock absorbing material 145 is inserted into the sheet storage space 136 so as to reinforce the reading section 132 against shock and deformation during shipment.
Note that, for the packing of the toner cartridge 138, there may be an option to pack the toner cartridge 138 by a packing case different from the packing case 139 for the image forming apparatus main body 137, or an option to pack the toner cartridge 138 in a state in which the toner cartridge 138 is mounted inside the image forming apparatus main body 137.
However, in the case of the conventional image forming apparatus shown in FIG. 3, even when it is shipped in a state in which the photosensitive drum of the image forming unit 132 is mounted in the image forming apparatus main body 137, there is no particular problem. Whereas, when packing the image forming apparatus including the toner cartridge 138 mounted in the image forming apparatus main body 137, there is the advantage of achieving a reduction in the size of the packing case 139, but there is a fear that the toner may scatter in the image forming apparatus main body 137 due to vibration, etc. during shipment. Since the toner is fine particles, if the toner scatters in the image forming apparatus main body 137, a considerably long time is necessary for cleaning. In order to prevent this problem, it is necessary to provide an additional mechanism for sufficiently sealing the toner. Then, when the image forming apparatus reaches a user, the toner cartridge 138 must be removed from the image forming apparatus main body 137 once so as to release the sealing. After releasing the sealing of the removed cartridge 138, the user must attach the cartridge 138 again to the image forming apparatus main body 137.
In contrast, when packing the image forming apparatus main body 137 and the toner cartridge 138 separately, there is a less fear of the above-mentioned problem. However, since the number of packages for a single image forming apparatus increases, there is the problem of an increase in the shipment cost. Further, as shown in FIG. 2 and FIG. 4, in the conventional packing methods in which the recessed portions 131, 144 for packing the toner cartridges 104, 138 are formed outside the packing area for the image forming apparatus main bodies 103, 137, although sufficient shock resistance is provided, excessive packing is unavoidable as a large quantity of packing material is necessary, and thus there is the problem of high cost. In addition, since the overall volume of the packing case increases, there is also the problem of high shipment cost.